AVR setting L/C/R to +12/+6.5/+12

gurot1

I finally ran autosetup on my pioneer AVR. It's the pioneer sc-1227-k. I am using the setup mic from an older model pioneer, the one for this model is on a ship somewhere. The front left and right run to an emotiva xsp-1 preamp to the HT bypass and then to the Parasound HCA 1200II. The AVR runs the centre, and the 4 surround channels. After auto setup my MCACC, it had all the speakers set as large (LSim705's, LSiM706,FX500 and RTi4). The trims for the L/C/R were +12/+6/+12, the surrounds ranged from +3 to +4.5. Interestingly it also thought the polarity on all 3 of the fronts was reversed. When I was listening to the test tones, I could notice that the L/R were lower in volume than the centre. I found that odd as they are running off a power amp compared to the other channels. I don't know for sure, but I don't think the test tones that MCACC uses contain a lot of bass which really chews up power. Also, I think +12 is as high as it will go for trim levels right? Thus the fronts may be at an even lower volume.

Tomorrow (if time permits), I am going to rerun it and hook up the fronts to the AVR to see what may be going on. Some other things I am thinking it may be would be mismatches between the output signals and the input sensitivities on the different components powering the L/R...would that be something to investigate? The other thing I was thinking of was to see if any of the cables are messing anything up. I could try another input on the preamp instead of the HT bypass input to see what it does...if doing this, would I set the volume to 0 on the preamp to have it at unity gain (I would need to run the sub and speaker outputs in full range crossover setting.

Would MCACC setting them as large mess up the trim levels? I am going to set them to small anyways, but would rerunning MCACC after setting them to small make any difference?

Thanks

Dennis Gardner

It makes no sense to me that all channels get a + setting. This type of setting eats up the usable headroom within the setting program.

mdaudioguy

Got an SPL meter? How about an SPL app on your phone? Set all channels back to 0 and get some manual readings.

tonyb

Could also be the mic, sometimes these mics are not interchangeable.

Take the pre amp out of the equation, just use the receiver and amp. Make sure the mic is at ear level in your listening position, and the house is very quiet when running the calibration. If it still comes back with goofy settings, it might just be that mic.

If so, nothing wrong with a little manual set up.

gurot1

I was just amazed at the L and R being maxed out...who knows how high it would go if it could. Funny thing was I could easily hear that the left and right were lower volume than centre channel even though they running off a power amp.

gurot1

I had a few minutes this am to use my SPL meter. Of note, I held the meter at least 5 feet ahead of where the calibration microphone was...so I know results should be louder than 75 or whatever the avr tests at. The centre channel with the +6.5 in avr was putting out a test tone of close to 92 and when I bumped the L/R down to 6.5 they were about 78 dB on the meter. I switched the wire connected to centre channel and the left channel at the speakers only...thus the avr driving left and the parasound driving centre and I had the same results with the centre speaker (lsim706) being about 92 dB and the left being about 78dB. I then hooked the L back up to the Parasound and then played a CD at -5 on the preamp (thus AVR was off and not part of the equation) and the meter was reading about 90 dB.

Thus could it just be that the extra load provided by the towers just requires that much extra power compared to the centre speaker and that the receiver has enough power to drive the centre channel nicely (at least when it is the only speaker)?

gurot1

tonyb wrote: »

Could also be the mic, sometimes these mics are not interchangeable.

Take the pre amp out of the equation, just use the receiver and amp. Make sure the mic is at ear level in your listening position, and the house is very quiet when running the calibration. If it still comes back with goofy settings, it might just be that mic.

If so, nothing wrong with a little manual set up.

The correct mic is on its way in a container ship. The environment for setting up mcacc was not ideal...all the kids ended up.coming downstairs while testing was going on. I was just trying to get the new system at least somewhat calibrated so we could watch a movie this weekend (life happened instead, so no movie). I knew the settings wouldn't be ideal and require further calibration, but I wasnt expecting all those +dB settings. What really surprised me was how much lower the volume of the L and R was compared to the rest of the speakers when the test tones were running.

rpf65

Most calibration will set the center slightly hot, maybe a Db or so. You can be assured that a 14 DB difference is way off.

When your mic comes in, rerun the MCACC when kids are gone/asleep, with your amp on. Turn off lights, fridge, heat/ac, if possible. Put your phones outside and run the calibration program. Then check each speaker with an spl meter/app. If the center is within about 2 DB of the left/right, I'd leave it alone. Could just be a reflection thing.

i would personally do a hard reset on the AVR, and take the pre-amp out. Just another thing in the electronics chain, and it may be causing more problems than it's worth. Let the AVR process everything when it come to HT. That's actually a very capable AVR you have.

You may or may not like the emo in the chain, just think you should listen.

Easy Runnin

Do you have the input levels maxed out on the parasound?

gurot1

Easy Runnin wrote: »

Do you have the input levels maxed out on the parasound?

Yup levels are maxed on parasound.

I usually run calibration with no kids in house but haven't had the chance...I turn off the furnace and go into an adjoining room.

Interestingly, the centre speaker was louder regardless if it was hooked to avr or to the parasound as the left channel and the lsim705 was hooked in both directly to avr as a centre channel.and through parasound as left channel (there is one as thr right channel, but I didn't touch that one). I even switched speaker cables just in case (I highly doubted it and was correct).

gurot1

So I tried out the correct mic today. Conditions werent not perfectly silent, but better than when I first ran mcacc. Similar results...centre channel had a higher level of 8db this time...left and right still at +12db.
Would my potential mishap from about a month or so ago with some odour coming from the direction of the speakers while after they had been playing loudly for about half an hour or so have anything to do with it? I still havent opened up the lsim705's...could it also.just be the difference between driving full towers versus a centre channel?

F1nut

You need to check those 705 crossovers. Seems to me your tweeters are not playing or not playing as they should.

gurot1

Something tells me I have to go this route. I am not super comfortable opening up the speaker...it looks so pristine currently. I have extended warranty, I think I will end up doing it through warranty as I don't want to muck it up. Thank goodness I kept the boxes. I had been thinking of just sending them.out in spring as I couldn't hear anything wrong, but this level difference means I may just had to do this now instead of later. Hopefully best buy has good service and not muck up the speaker finish.

tonyb

gurot1 wrote: »

Would my potential mishap from about a month or so ago with some odour coming from the direction of the speakers while after they had been playing loudly for about half an hour or so have anything to do with it?

Ummm...YEAH ! You were playing very loud and smelled an odor....you toasted something in the crossover or the tweets, maybe both. A man's got to know his limitations...

BestBuy.....that's a roll of the dice if you ask me having a kid probably working on your speakers.

gurot1

Lol my limitations are checking the flipping spl meter battery before using it to make sure adequate battery. I didn't use my brain when I thought for sure the tones were louder than 75 db even though spl meter wasnt saying that.

I think best buy ships the speaker to an authorized polk repair facility

gurot1

Thanks for the info. Are they located in Mississauga? I think way back when I bought the speakers BB employee said facility in Mississauga

gurot1

Sweet. I think that is who best buy here deals with . I am glad to know they good guys...I have been worried about sending the lsim705 and getting them back all trashed